Dec 18 2006
Google Phone Rumors Grow
Speculation is growing that a very interesting deal may be in the works:
Google is on the move. The internet giant has held talks with Orange, the mobile phone operator, about a multi-billion-dollar partnership to create a ‘Google phone’ which makes it easy to search the web wherever you are.
According to GigaOM, there is additional evidence of the creation of a Google Phone:
Google Phone, if you think about it is a reasonable speculation. Google has been aggressive in developing location based services, has amp-ed up its local search and mapping services. In addition, it has also been mobilizing its applications such as GTalk and GMail. YouTube, the video arm of Google, is beginning to embrace the mobile ecosystem.
If true, this move may mark a change in the way we use and think about cell phones.
In November, Eric Schmidt, Google CEO, said for Reuters, that he thinks that in the future mobile phones should be free for the consumers. Not for everyone, but for those who will accept to watch targeted forms of advertising. According to Reuters, Schmidt said that the mobile phones are used eight to 10 hours a day for talking, texting or Web access.
“Your mobile phone should be free,” Schmidt told Reuters. “It just makes sense that subsidies should increase” as advertising rises on mobile phones.
What could this new phone look like? CrunchGear has some thoughts:
So essentially, if the report rings true, the pair are planning a relatively vanilla handset. I think, however, that holds some significance. While us tech nerds love devices that have gobs of features, regular consumers want simple, usable functionality—not oppressively complicated technology. It’s a model that has benefited Google immensely in its eight years of existence, and I don’t see why mobile technologies should be any different.
Buzzle.com thinks this move is the way of the future:
Manufacturers such as Nokia and Motorola are working to make the mobile internet commonplace. Earlier this year Anssi Vanjoki, executive vice-president of Nokia, said at a product show in New York: ‘In the mid-Nineties I said that if you don’t have a mobile phone you will be making a declaration that you wanted to be outside organised society. People said I was crazy, but now everybody has a mobile phone. Today I’m saying that in 10 years’ time the same will be true if you don’t have the full internet in your pocket.
So, what is the buzz on this phone?
Real Tech News: We Say: The story says the phone would be manufactured by HTC, meaning it most likely would have Windows Mobile as an OS. But if the only differentiating factor will be searchability … I’m not sure. The primary function of even a smartphone or PDA phone is as a phone. Most users still underutilize their smartphones. Still, Google is a big name. We’ll have to wait and see when and if this shows up.
Engadget: Google CEO Eric Schmidt has even waxed rhapsodic about the possibilities of free handsets subsidized by (Google) ads. Even so, releasing a Googlephone would be a HUGE step for them, since ultimately Google’s goal shouldn’t be to have its own phone, but rather to be on every phone, right?
Naked Conversations: I’ve written a lot about phones and price recently, but we all have frustrations with performance. With entries from Apple with its history of product elegance and now Google with its internet software superiority, mobile computing may be headed a significant click up.
Don Dodge on The Next Big Thing: In an earlier post “Three moves that could topple Google” I suggested that mobile search is one of three search areas that has no dominant leader and could be a billion dollar opportunity for a smart start-up. Better move fast because Google is coming, and not alone. They have the brand and money to partner with their pick of the mobile phone leaders.
